Trend Following with Michael Covel

Ep. 380: Lessons from Ken Tropin with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio

Released: Sep 14, 2015

On today’s show, Michael Covel talks about how people that are ahead of the curve often find themselves isolated – even ridiculed – by those who don’t yet get it. This, as Michael points out, is certainly true for trend following traders, and some of the sharpest push back comes from the talking heads of the media.

To emphasize his point, Michael plays clips from an interview between CNBC’s Joe Kernen and Graham Capital’s Ken Tropin, a highly successful trader who heavily incorporates trend following techniques into his overall strategy. To Michael, of utmost significance in the two men’s exchange, is the fact that Kernen bumbles through the interview wholly unprepared (either via incompetence or on purpose). Kernen didn’t respect Tropin or his strategy enough to do even the most basic homework beforehand.

Michael’s discussion then moves on to the topic of uncertainty. In direct opposition to media personalities, that are paid to pretend to know what the market will do, trend following traders embrace the knowledge that they can’t predict the future. Uncertainty makes the game more exciting, and not just the investment game. As Michael demonstrates, the principles of trend following can be effectively applied across myriad disciplines.

In this episode of Trend Following Radio:

Recognizing that without a strategy, you’re at the mercy of the machine
Embracing uncertainty
Understanding that knowing every market move won’t help without a plan
The importance of setting your strategy beforehand
Seeing that media personalities are paid to pretend to know all
How the principles of trend following apply to other disciplines